Merlin
Merlin is an experimental tender engine who believes he has the power to turn invisible. During the fifteenth series, he is friends with Melvin Silverrod and Giselle. Bio When Thomas travels to the Mainland, he befriends the experimental engines: Merlin, Theo and Lexi. Merlin sails through life, full of confidence, believing that he has the ability to become invisible. Helping to hide Thomas from Frankie and Hurricane, he promises to help Thomas find his way back to Sodor. Later, Merlin, along with the other experimentals, help Thomas rescue James, who had been trapped in the Steelworks. Afterwards, Thomas convinces the experimental engines to stay at the Steelworks and help Frankie and Hurricane. During Thomas' heyday, Merlin is shown to be still openly courting Thomas to join The Great Race, even when his current Great Race recruit Giselle is within earshot. Later, when Holly and Thomas jointly win the Doncaster Grand Prix, Merlin enlists Holly to run for The Great Race, and eventually buys The Great Railway Show to have all relevant assets under the same roof. Persona Merlin sees himself as a hero. He is proud and confident of his abilities and in particular his special skill - the ability to make himself invisible. All he has to do is say "Invisibility on!" and shut his eyes and he is convinced that nobody can see him. He knows he was specially designed in order to be hard to see and his three funnels, which were intended to disperse his smoke and steam, are there to prove it. What Merlin does not know is that his experiment did not work. Merlin wants to be able to prove himself and show everyone all the things he can do. He honestly believes you can do anything you set your mind to or at the very least, you can try! Merlin is fun and funny and wants to be a good friend, but his lack of judgment and sense of his own limitations can create its own challenges. Basis Merlin is based on the LSWR N15 Class, referred to as the "King Arthur" class by the Southern Railway, specifically No. 783 Sir Gillemere. In 1943, Sir Gillemere was fitted with three stovepipe chimneys by Oliver Bulleid as a wartime experiment. The way the smoke was spread out was meant to make the trains less visible to bombers overhead. The experiment was not a success, and the engine was quickly converted back to normal. No. 783 became No. 30783 under British Railways after nationalisation in 1948 and was withdrawn in March 1961. Livery Merlin is painted silver with a red running board and wheels, and black smoke deflectors. He has red and gold nameplates on either sides. His number is also painted white on his front bufferbeam, the sides of his cab and tender. Appearences Television Series *Series 15: The Great Railway Show Rematch, Part 1 and The Great Railway Show Rematch, Part 2 Voice Actors *Hugh Bonneville (Series 11, onwards) Quotes :"Stop winning, for crying out loud! We're running out of steel to deliver!" - Merlin tells Thomas during the night after he wins the race. :"Ahem; Maximilian, why not you and I have a puff to talk?" - Merlin doing a conversation with Maximilian after he is treated by Hiro. :See more at the Thomas & Friends Wiki. Category:Railway Engines Category:Steam Locomotives Category:Tender engines